We use design space to place our annotations, symbols, notes dimensions for our workflow. This design sheet will have a 2d model dgn or dwg referenced. In the past we have used the settings manger to set the drawing scale. I would to start using the annotation scale to set the drawing scale and control the text, symbols and dimensions.
How does the active scale affect the annotation scale and vice-versa??
The info presented in Mark Penn's Blog and AskInga don't touch on the active scale.
Annotation scale is completely unrelated to the active scale.
That said, it is possible to set up text styles, dimension styles and cells so that they are controlled by the annotation scale. This would negate a lot of the reason to worry about the active scale, but it does require a bit of setup to work well.
Depending how you want to use it, you will need to decide whether to draw all your details in one model and just keep changing the annotation scale; if so, you will want to UNcheck the "Propagate Annotation Scale" model setting. Then you will need to keep track of which annotation scale is used for each detail.
You also have the choice to create design models for each of the scales you use. That's what I did when I was doing bridge detailing. All of the 1/2" scale details were in one model, all of the 1/4" details were in another model, and so on. That way, I could also make the most of allowing annotation scale to manage the reference scale when I attached the details to my sheet model.
I'm going on vacation for a few days, but I'd be quite willing to share my experience with this. Annotation scale made detailing SO MUCH easier to manage, and our drawings looked so much more consistent with far less effort.
MaryB
Power GeoPak 08.11.09.918Power InRoads 08.11.09.918OpenRoads Designer 2021 R2
If you really want to be able to set your active scale from your annotation scale, you may be able to figure out how to write a VBA macro to query the annotation scale and apply it to the active scale. There may or may not be a way to make it change automatically (that would get into Events) but you can always set the keyin to make it run onto a function key for one-tap action.